Vegetarian Express

• resultPass
• critical violations1
• last inspectedAugust 1, 2022
• address4747 N Damen Ave, Chicago 60625

Is Vegetarian Express clean?

Vegetarian Express is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on August 1, 2022. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Vegetarian Express?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on August 1, 2022, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚰handwashing sink blocked or barecritical
  Adequate Handwashing Sinks Properly Supplied And Accessible • INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE HANDWASHING SIGNAGE AT HANDSINK IN BASEMENT PREP/COOKING AREA AND INSIDE 2ND FLOOR WASHROOM.
• 🧻grimy wiping cloths
  Wiping Cloths: Properly Used & Stored • INSTRUCTED TO PROPERLY STORE WIPING CLOTHS IN A BUCKET WITH SANITIZING SOLUTION.
• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean • INSTRUCTED TO DETAIL CLEAN AND MAINTAIN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SURFACES OF 3 COMPARTMENT SINK, HANDSINKS, PREP SHELVES, STORAGE SHELVES, COOLERS AND FREEZERS.
• ⚠️Toilet Facilities: Properly Constructed, Supplied, & Cleaned • TOILET ROOM DOORS MUST BE SELF CLOSING. INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE SELF CLOSING DEVICE.
  Toilet Facilities: Properly Constructed, Supplied, & Cleaned • TOILET ROOM DOORS MUST BE SELF CLOSING. INSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE SELF CLOSING DEVICE.
• 🧹floors, walls, or ceilings grimy
  Physical Facilities Installed, Maintained & Clean • INSTRUCTED TO DETAIL CLEAN AND MAINTAIN FLOORS ALONG THE WALLS AND IN ALL CORNERS THROUGHOUT (BASEMENT PREP, FIRST FLOOR AND 2ND FLOOR) ESPECIALLY UNDER AND AROUND COOLERS AND COOKING EQUIPMENT. FOOD AND NON FOOD ITEMS MUST BE STORED 6" OFF THE FLOOR FOR EASY ACCESS ON CLEANING. • INSTRUCTED TO REMOVE UNNECESSARY ARTICLES AND CLUTTER THROUGHOUT PREMISES (BASEMENT PREP, FIRST FLOOR AND 2ND FLOOR) TO PREVENT PEST HARBORAGE.
• 🥜allergen training missing
  Allergen Training As Required • FOUND EXPIRED APPROVED ALLERGEN TRAINING CERTIFICATE. INSTRUCTED ANY PERSON WITH CITY OF CHICAGO FOOD SERVICE SANITATION CERTIFICATE TO COMPLY WITH CURRENT ALLERGEN TRAINING CERTIFICATION.

When was Vegetarian Express last inspected?

Vegetarian Express has 14 inspections on record going back to June 30, 2015. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Vegetarian Express vs Lincoln Square

Lincoln Square runs 59% clean across 922 tracked restaurants — 536 clean, 152 mid, 228 cooked.

Against the 922 spots Cooked tracks in Lincoln Square, this one comes out cleaner than 41% of them.

Other spots in Lincoln Square

• ✓! Band Of Bohemia
  mid · March 14, 2019
• ✓ Band Of Bohemia
  clean · October 20, 2015
• ✓ Empirical Brewery
  clean · October 28, 2015
• ✓ Empirical Brewery
  clean · October 28, 2015
• ✓ Wendy's
  clean · March 19, 2026
• ✓ Jerry's Sandwiches & Geraldine's
  clean · April 20, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Lincoln Square →

How Chicago grades restaurants

Chicago does not use letter grades. Every inspection ends in one of three official results: Pass, Pass with Conditions, or Fail. Pass with Conditions means violations were found but corrected on the spot or under a deadline — the restaurant is open, with homework. A Fail means serious violations went uncorrected, and it usually brings a re-inspection within days. Chicago also flags “priority” violations, the ones most likely to actually make someone sick. Cooked reads Pass as clean, Pass with Conditions as mid, and Fail as cooked, and shows the itemized violations behind each result.

Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated August 1, 2022. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.